Assessing decision making using 2D animations in elite academy footballers

Having investigated the effects of videos in the preceding chapter, this chapter assesses 2D animation, a form of presentation used in many coaching situations. The aim of this experiment was to investigate decision-making skills in different age groups (Under 16, 18 and 23) of elite academy footballers using a 2D animation simulation task of real game football scenarios. The work also explored the relationship between individual performance on the task and the actual performance on the pitch, as rated by three independent expert football coaches. This allowed us to examine whether this task is useful in predicting real-world decision-making skills. The results suggested that there was a significant difference between age groups on accuracy, by gaining more experience footballers perform better on the task. Also, the results showed a significant difference between all age groups on the response time. The under 23 age group were fastest, then the under 18 age group and finally the under 16 footballers were the slowest on the task. The correlation between performance on the task and the assessments provided by the coaches showed that 2D animation task is a sensitive measure in assessment of decision-making skills of elite academy players.